White Sands
by Pokepika's Haunt
Summary: Rated T for safety, Fem!Ichigo fanfic; More inside-
1. Of Twisted Fates

A/N. Ok, I know I should be updating my other stories, but I don't have any ideas for them right now. Sorry. So instead I'm making another story. Hope you enjoy!

Summary: On one fateful rainy night, more than just one person's blood was spilt.

In a cruel twist of fate, nine year old Ichigo Kurosaki dies alongside her mother that fateful afternoon on June 17th. And instead of being sent to Soul Society, young Ichigo wakes up confused and very alone in the wastelands of Hueco Mundo. How will the story change when the key factor is on a different side?

Warning: Fem!Ichigo fanfic, rated T for safety. No pre-planned pairings as of right now, but we'll see what happens later.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**Prologue: Of Twisted Fates**

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"Little worm!" a shrill, distorted cry echoed across the barren landscape, seeming to shake the very ground itself as a monstrous beast wearing a bone-white mask stormed across the white sands, kicking up dust and leaving large gouges in its wake as it sped forward clumsily; knocking over several brittle trees in the process of its brutal hunting. Several yards ahead of it, a much smaller, more thin creature darted, just barely skirting around the other's ground-shaking lunges and wide-swept attacks. "Stay still!" the beast ordered, though the boisterous thing seemingly went unheard as the other creature continued darting about and dodging its attacks. As the monster prepared to lash out once again, the small creature suddenly turned on it, short messy hair seeming to bristle in growing agitation as it lunged at the monster's head, sharp claws flashing in what little light there was.

The white sands were suddenly dyed crimson red as a sea of the grotesque color spread out from the now dead corpse, left to rot in the godforsaken wasteland as the small creature walked off into the distance, a long red trail following each slow footstep against the ground. From beneath the brown tattered-cloak that covered the small, thin figure, a blood-stained hand, surprisingly human in shape despite its inhuman claws, appeared; reaching up to cover one glowing yellow eye of its own as the creature seemed to suddenly curl in on itself in pain.

"_Ic…"_

_No…_

"_N…"_

_No more…_

"_Ic…"_

_Mama…_

"_COME BACK!"_

_Make it stop!_

The small creature released a sharp cry, all too similar to the cries of a wailing child…

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_The evening air was chilled as raindrops fell from the sky, further dampening the already wet ground below as the occasional person walked down the lonely sidewalk._

"_Mama, I managed to be Tatsuki today!" a little girl chirped happily as she skipped innocently along, her hand being held gently by one of an older woman with wavy, strawberry blonde hair as red, rubber boots splashed water everywhere with each little step taken. The woman smiled gently in return to the small declaration; a sign of slight praise, the woman's other hand too preoccupied with keeping an umbrella over both child and mother's heads at the moment to give the child the pat on the head she probably felt she so rightly deserved._

"_That's very good, you didn't gloat too much did you?" The woman asked as she guided the child, careful to keep her within reach and out of the nearby street and possible oncoming traffic._

"_No Mama. I was a good sport. Tatsuki didn't take losing too well though." The little girl chimed in, shaking her head and sending short blonde hair flying slightly with the motion._

"_Good. And I hope Tatsuki didn't do anything to make herself out as a bad sport." The little girl giggled in response, just about to answer when a truck suddenly came flying by, hitting a dip in the road and sending a hoard of water onto the sidewalk, and in the process soaking the poor child who had been unfortunate enough to be walking nearby. "Oh! Well that was mean of that truck now wasn't it? Come here…" the woman ordered as she guided the child closer to her, bringing out a pure white handkerchief and begin to wipe the child's face dry. "How about I stand on the outside from now on, okay?"_

"_No!" the child interrupted, expression determined as small hands went to settle on the child's hips, a look of stubbornness clear from her expression. "I have to protect Mama!" The little girl spoke vehemently, making to look bigger and tougher than she actually was._

_The woman chuckled, finding the display amusing, but otherwise deciding to entertain it for the remainder of their little trip,_

"_Of course, you're Mama's little protector right?" the woman asked, her tone joking, though the child didn't sense it, agreeing full heartily with the woman's statement._

"_Yeah, I'm Mama's pr-proto-pro."_

"_Protector?"_

"_Yeah, that word." The woman giggled again at the response, reaching to grab the child's hand when suddenly, it was no longer there for her to grab. "Huh?" She immediately looked up to see her daughter running to riverback on the other side of the street. Eyes widening for a split second, the woman quickly scanned the whole side of the river they were on to find the cause, before something horrifying finally caught her attention. "No…" The woman gasped in horror as she dropped the umbrella, fully intent on shielding her daughter from the unseen danger. As she reached for the little girl, she couldn't help but scream the child's name out, her eyes widening as prayer that would go unanswered ran through her mind._

'Please somebody… Anybody… Save my child…'

"_ICHIGO!"_

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_As the rain continued to fall from the heavens, like teardrops as if the very skies were mourning an unfortunate event, two limp bodies lay on the ground, dead as the pavement that lay bathed in the blood that once flowed through their veins, eyes devoid of any life that may have been there at one point as sirens resounded in the distance, though far too late to save any lives in that dreary hour…_

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A/N. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think and see ya!


	2. EP 1 Of Lost Battles

A/N. Ok, here's episode 1. Hope you guys enjoy and thanks to everybody who took the time out of their possibly very busy schedules to review the first chapter, I really appreciate it. I'm also grateful to the many people who also favorited my story and put it on their alerts. Thank you so much to all of you!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**Episode 1: Of Lost Battles**

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Ichigo starred out across the barren hills of the deserts of Hueco Mundo, eyes fixated on a rather small looking, white structure in the distance. She knew better though, for all her short experiences and that of which her fading memory would allow her, it was more enormous in size than what it appeared to be initially. She had never gone near the structure though; ill-winds brewed near the distant place, leaving even herself a little fearful of those that supposedly dwelled within. She had heard whisperings from the monsters that came treading by, whispering to each other of an army of some sort being held up within the structure's walls when they weren't at each other's throats trying to make a meal of one another. The leader was, surprisingly one of a supposed group of enemies for her kind; an organization that slaughtered her kind for something as basic as eating, though when she thought of some of the more unsavory examples, she could see why they might want to. She had managed to dredge up a word that fit the actions of this supposed once-enemy-now-ally person, if she could truly consider him an ally. Mutiny; a word that supposedly meant the betrayal or uprising of an organization in order to usurp control, whatever the word usurp meant. It sounded befitting for whoever's actions resulted in this.

But that wasn't her main concern right at this moment. The ill-winds that surrounded the distant structure seemed to be blowing in her direction, and with it a few of the stronger ones from the supposed army brewing within. She hadn't the slightest idea why though. Not many knew about her existence, though there were whispers about something being out here, she doubted they were enough to draw attention to this place. Whatever had brought them this far away from the dwelling must have been important though, if they had ones with such power come all the way out here. Either that, or it was for their own amusement, which she guessed could pass as a plausible reason.

A sharp, angered voice stole her away from her inner musings, causing her to peek over the edge of the cliff side to the quartz tree littered ground below.

"Tch, why the hell did Aizen send us to this place!? There's nobody here!" Ichigo felt an eyebrow twitch as she eyed the group of unwanted visitors, a total of five that looked even more human than she did. A long, lizard-like tail whipped out from behind her, swinging about in slightly peeked curiosity, though Ichigo made no move to act on the sudden emotion.

"Trash, silence." A voice ordered dully in return, the speaker an unnaturally pale person with very green eyes from what she could see from her seat. "Lord Aizen has heard whisperings of a very powerful hollow dwelling in this area. He sent us to check it out." _'So that's why they came? Their leader sent them… But hollow? Are they talking about me?' _Ichigo thought as her eyes narrowed, sinking down even further as she felt the hairs on her neck stand on end in suspicion.

"And besides Grimmjow, you were the one who wanted to come along when you heard that this hollow was supposedly very strong." A calm voice supplied, talking to a man with a nasty snarl on his face and electric blue hair. The owner, a dark-skinned woman with blonde hair seemed to look the area over before slowly scanning the cliff-face. "You didn't have to tag along you know." The woman stated, returning her attention to the blunette, apparently known as Grimmjow.

"Tch, whatever. Shut the hell up woman!" the man barked back, growling under his breath as he walked up to the cliff, kicking the surface in his ever-growing frustration.

"Trash." A bored sigh broke through what might have turned into an amusing argument as a large man slowly walked up, joining the blunette's side as he too began to scan the alcove for any signs of life.

"Starrk, do you think the hollow might be out hunting?" a little blonde girl asked as she hung back, tilting her head to the side as her eyes drifted skyward, though not anywhere near where Ichigo sat observing them all.

"Maybe, maybe not… This is so bothersome. I just want to take a nap." The man said, whining slightly in complaint as he scratched his head to show just how bothersome he apparently found this little venture.

"Wake up you lazy bum!" the girl ordered out loudly, kicking the man in the butt to further prove her point for stomping further ahead to brutally kick the rock wall as well, "Hey Hollow! Get out here right this instant and show yourself! Or are you too scared? Well!" the girl's cry was met with silence as the man came up to place his hand on top of her head,

"Lilynette, stop." The man ordered quietly, the girl immediately speaking up in protest,

"But Starrk-" the girl, Lilynette's cry, fell short as a low rumbling was heard by the whole group. All eyes immediately darted to the top of the cliff face as a small creature suddenly descended from above, landing with a heavy thud amidst them.

"Leave…" Ichigo growled in growing irritation as she made to stand up, only rising a few inches from her position crouched down on the ground. The loud-mouth blunette grinned madly as he walked up, looking hungry for some form of confrontation.

"And if we don't?" he posed the question, making it sound more like a challenge rather than a simple inquisition. His answer was a sharp sting to the side of his face, followed shortly by the feeling of something wet sliding down the side of his face.

Blinking in surprise, he reached up with a hand, bringing it back to see blood covering his fingertips. The destructive grin grew as the man reached for his blade, blood beginning to pump with adrenaline at the prospect of a good fight. The attack had come faster than he could sense it, which meant that despite being lower in level and power, the hollow before him was still pretty fast. Even he'd have to admit, though never aloud as his pride wouldn't let him, that if given the same powers he had, she'd be a bloody speed demon more worse than even the highest ranked of Aizen's army. With the hollow being so small in stature and size, the problem in this fight, would be actually landing a hit on her. Despite how distorted the voice that came from behind the mask was, even he could tell that his opponent was female, and possibly very young at that.

From her position in the midst of the group, Ichigo eyed her newest opponent warily, already balanced on the balls of her feet and ready to spring into action should the situation call for it. Judging from the look on his face and the blood-thirsty gleam in the man's crazed eyes, he was obviously one to enjoy a good fight when he could get one. Ichigo wasn't so sure how she felt about it, though as long as he didn't hit her there probably wouldn't be a problem.

"Trash, must you instigate a fight every chance you get?" the dull voice of one of the others chimed in, looking at the both of them with a deadened expression. Grimmjow growled out warningly in return to the insult and remark, glaring at the man with a promise for pain.

"How about you shut it Ulquiorra?" he bit back, though not even sparring a glance towards the man in the end as he refocused his gaze back onto Ichigo. The other, Ulquiorra, just huffed out in reply, focusing all of his attention onto the Hollow before them instead. "Tch, so what's your name brat?" Grimmjow asked as he flexed a hand over the blade at his side. Ichigo merely tilted her head slightly to the side, before vanishing from view with a sharp burst of speed. The hot-head only barely managed to dodge as her hand came slicing through the air where his head was, leaving three short gashes in the sand below as the man dove forward in order to dodge. Tucking and rolling to the side as Ichigo lashed out yet again, he quickly drew his sword, blocking her next strike.

From the sidelines, Ulquiorra sighed out an insult towards the battling blunette,

"Trash." It went unheard however as the two continued to trade blows, Grimmjow getting most of the nicks and bruises between the two of them and failing to land any on the other.

"You're pretty fast you know?" Grimmjow called out as he attempted a leg-sweep to try and throw Ichigo off her balance. Jumping over the outstretched leg, she failed to see the oncoming blade until it was too late, only barely managing to twist around and over Grimmjow's head before skidding to a stop behind him. Standing up, Grimmjow turned to grin victoriously at her, "But I'm faster." He gloated as he swung the sharp sword through the air, send the freshly spilt blood flying onto the sands beneath them as he focused a smirk back onto his opponent. Ichigo gave no reaction other than a low growl as she held her injured arm beneath the tattered cloak. "I'll ask one last time before I outright kill you here and now. What's your name?"

"…" once again instead of answering, Ichigo crouched even lower than she had been before, messy blonde hair almost brushing the sands as she dug her claws into the surface for a better grip, looking almost like an animal when down on all fours.

"Fine then! Die without a name!" Grimmjow ordered as he lunged, sword at the ready. Ichigo darted into the swing, going below eye-level to target the stomach with a sharp clawed jab to the solar plexus. But just as she felt her fingers begin to break skin; a certainly odd feeling she would never get used to no matter how long she lived, a bright flash of greenish light was caught in her peripheral vision. She pushed both feet into Grimmjow's stomach, using him as a sort of springboard to jump back while simultaneously pushing him out of the way, just in time as a cero, one of the more basic of attacks in a Hollow's arsenal, gouged deep, burning ridges into the sand as it flew pass. An explosion shook the earth as Ichigo landed, almost throwing her off her feet as the powerful attack landed. Ichigo managed to get on her feet within seconds, eying the new crater to take in the damage it had caused, and gulping in slight fear as she realized that it could have very well been her instead just some useless quartz trees and sand.

"Idiot! What do you think you're doing?!" Grimmjow's enraged voice drew her attention away from the devastation as he started arguing with the one known as Ulquiorra.

"Trash, I just saved your life." The man stated calmly in return, not seeming bothered at all that with the proximity they had been in, he could have easily fried them both instead of just killing Ichigo herself.

"Yeah right! You almost got me too!"

"Garbage, silence." The man ordered crisply instead, turning his full attention onto Ichigo, whose own glowing, yellow eyes were narrowed onto him in apparent wariness. "Trash, you'll be coming with us." The green-eyed man ordered, taking a step towards the still crouched hollow. Ichigo backed up, growling in warning as she continued to eye the man warily. The remaining three; Starrk, Lilynette, and the woman, merely stood back, standing mostly in the way of the only possible escape route as they continued to observe the events currently unfolding, staying completely silent throughout the entire thing.

"That's what you think." Ichigo suddenly bit back, making to attack Ulquiorra who crouched down in preparation, only to dart back in the remaining three's direction, and feinting once again as instead of attempting to get pass them, she darted forward in Ulquiorra's direction. Almost everybody's eyes widened in shock as she then sped around Ulquiorra, remaining low to the ground and quickly scaled the cliff face.

"Trash." Ichigo found herself gasping in shock, as just as she cleared the top of the cliff, a sharp flash of pain overcame her senses, leaving her planted flat on the rocky surface in stunned silence and confusion. Gasping for air that was suddenly not coming in as much as it normally should, she found herself staring into white cloth and emotionless green eyes as Ulquiorra finally pulled his sword from her body.

As empty blackness began to creep into her vision, she only vacantly noticed the feeling of somebody picking her up and beginning to carry her. A feeling she hadn't had in the longest of times.

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A/N. Ok, so what do you guys think? Please leave a review and tell me. Please? I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading! See ya!


	3. EP 2 Of Sly Propositions

A/N. Ok, so I was feeling particularly inspired with the quick reviews I got, 14 in two chapters which is amazing by my standards. Feeling as excited as I am, I decided to attempt a second update in one day. But don't let the author's note fool you. If the date this was posted says the 26th of October instead of the 25th, it means I failed in that endeavor. That or I didn't get the story up before 12 o' clock midnight. Anyways, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!**

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**Episode 2: Of Sly Propositions**

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She had never liked dreaming, not for a long time. Not when all she saw were old memories of places she couldn't remember when she woke up, faces that wound up having no meaning to her in the end when they seemed like the world to her in the dreams, and emotions that left her feeling even more empty than when she fell asleep. Not when it seemed to all scream out to her that she had lost something extremely important, and she herself didn't even know what. So it was a sort of blessing in some ways when Ichigo finally found herself returning to the land of the conscious, the room too dark to see in and the floor flat and cold against her body, which, now that she was finally aware enough to take note of the discomfort, felt as stiff as a board at the moment. _'How long have I been out?'_ the single thought crossed her mind in a flash before being pushed aside for the moment as she made to at least sit up. She sighed in dull satisfaction when she managed to get her spine to pop slightly in several places, releasing the very apparent tension that had built up while she was lying on the floor unconscious, before finally turning her attention to the most important matter at hand.

Waiting only a few seconds more for her eyes to adjust to the extreme lack of even the most mediocre of lighting in the room, Ichigo took in her surroundings to the best of her ability. Noting everything from how plain and bland the place all seemed. It was like a vacant bedroom of sorts, unfurnished and largely left ignored, at least until somebody had come along and placed her here. She was still trying to remember what had happened before she blacked out.

Her inner musings were cut short for the second time in what she was starting to vaguely remember, as the sound of a door somewhere in the room being opened reached her ears. Turning in the direction she guessed the noise was coming from, she had to shut her eyes tightly as blinding light suddenly seeped into the dark room, illuminating everything within. Squinting, she managed to open her eyes enough to see as five or so people walked in, silhouetted by the light stemming from somewhere outside.

"Ah, I see our guest is finally awake. It's nice to finally meet you face to face. I've heard rumors about you-" a man with rich brown hair that had slicked back said, his tone so openly friendly that Ichigo couldn't help but think it seemed very fake.

"Who are you?" Ichigo cut in, her patience short as she warily eyed the man, making to stand up whilst pulling her cloak more closely around her.

"Watch your tongue!" a teenage girl ordered from behind the man. Though she looked ready to murder Ichigo, she couldn't help but snort derisively at her. "Why you…"

"Menoly, Loly, please wait outside whilst I talk to our guest." The first man requested before the girl could continue. The girl looked ready to protest but one look from the man and she and another girl both fled the room. "I'm sorry about those two, they can be… A little protective sometimes." The man apologized once the two girls were gone. Ichigo gave no response, instead choosing to instead, eye the two remaining occupants within the room; a tall, muscular black man wearing visors of some sort and a pale, white-haired man with fox's grin on his face and closed eyes. Before she could further examine the two men, the first released some sort of sigh, a gentle smile on his face as he took a step closer, which in turn resulted in Ichigo immediately backing up. She only barely took note of the sound of jangling chains, meaning they had tried to make sure she couldn't easily escape or run if she had woken up long before anybody would come to check on her. The man seemed to sigh again, probably guessing that no matter how close he got Ichigo would find a way to get as far away from possible. "My name is Sosuke Aizen. May I inquire as to yours?" the man, Aizen, asked politely.

Ichigo chose again to remain silent instead of answering, continuing to eye the man warily as she slowly but gradually increased the distance between them whilst slipping her hand to the shackles wrapped around her right ankle. Smiling to herself in satisfaction as she finally felt cold iron under her clawed fingers, she slowly began to slice through the chains, attempting to make the motions her arm was making as miniscule and unnoticeable as possible.

"Well, I guess I can't expect much when it was one of my very own men that wound up injuring you. I guess I should've picked a better group to send to your home." Aizen continued, that annoyingly pleasant smile never leaving his expression. "I apologize again for that, but I still have something I must ask of you." The man said, making it sound like he was gearing up to make a deal of some sort, "A proposition really." Aizen continued to talk, only to go unheard as Ichigo used the one-sided conversation as a stall to buy time, until she finally felt the chain snap, quickly grabbing hold of it before it could hit the floor. No matter how small a sound it made if it did, she wasn't about to chance something as minute a fact as that botch up her escape plans. Shuffling even further back and up against an apparent wall, Ichigo placed the chain down on the floor gently, before slowly standing up. "Ah, is something the matter?" At the seemingly innocent question, Ichigo couldn't help but grin victoriously as she used the wall to gain momentum as she attempted to jump clear over the three men's heads.

"Yeah, you need to work on better restraints!" Ichigo called as she hurdled over Aizen's head, making for the door in what little seconds she probably had before they all recovered and came after her. Just as she spotted a window that she could jump out of, she felt something like a hand on her stomach, before feeling the wind get knocked out of her as she hit solid tile flooring again, sliding slightly before she came to a stop, curled into a ball as she coughed slightly.

Eyes narrowed into a glare, she her head slightly to find herself staring into the fox man's face.

"Sorry 'bout that sweetie, but 'nfortunately we can't have ya escapin' just yet. See Captain Aizen's not quite done talkin' to ya yet." The man explained, not bothered at all by the heated glare he was receiving from the hollow as he walked over to the broken and now very useless chain. "I have ta admit though, she's got some good claws on her. She managed to slice right through the chains like it was nothing."

"I must agree Gin, she's smart at least." Aizen commented as he walked up to Ichigo, still laying down on the floor prone. From his position near the wall, the fox man, Gin, seemed to be eying Ichigo speculatively, as if there was something about her that had struck him as odd that he didn't quite have figured out yet. Coughing slightly again, Ichigo decided to place her gaze on Aizen, glaring at him instead since he just happened to be closer. "You know, it's by your own choosing that you make me out to be your enemy. All I need is a little help, and in return, I can give you immense power, on a level you've probably never seen before." The man said, as if it was the most tempting off one could imagine. Ichigo, however, remained severely unimpressed.

"Don't want it." Ichigo replied, coughing slightly as she winced through the pain, brought back by a now very aggravated wound that hadn't quite healed yet from when she was knocked out. If memory served correctly, the injury had been from a blade owned by, apparently, one of this man's subordinates.

Said man quirked an inquisitive eyebrow, not bothering to hid his curiosity at the reply.

"Oh, and why not?"

"Don't want it… Power…"

"And why is that?"

"Don't need it." Ichigo said simply not bothering to further explain. It wasn't the real reason why, but she wasn't about to tell him the truth. She'd never wanted power, just needed it to survive, and before this man and his men had come along, she hadn't needed any more than she already had.

"So what is it you do need? What is it that you want?" The man seemed to be prying, trying to get inside her head. The only problem was, Ichigo wasn't completely sure about it herself. There was one thing she wanted, or needed, whichever the case may be, but she knew for a fact this man could not give it to her. It'd just be a lie in the end, and Ichigo wasn't about to help a person when they obviously lied to her.

"Not something you can give."

"And how can you be sure?" at the question, Ichigo couldn't help but give a dry sort of chuckle. She hadn't laughed in any form what-so-ever in a long while, and even though the question wasn't really humorous or funny, she couldn't help but feel like it actually was.

"How can you give what one only gets once, and once taken, can never be given back?" she asked, turning over immediately afterwards to show that she was done speaking to the man. If Aizen felt she was useless to him, then he would probably kill her. It didn't matter to her any longer, she had been caught, and with the skill level one subordinate showed, she doubted that she would stand much of a chance with two of possibly the same ranked subordinates plus the obvious leader as her opponents.

"Then instead of power for yourself, why don't I give you power so that you never have to worry about that again?" At the man's question, Ichigo's eyes widened.

Aizen couldn't help but smile in some small amount of self-victory. Despite the fact that she hadn't turned over, he knew that he had her full attention finally. She definitely wasn't like the other hollows he had seen. They had wanted power, most of them at least, power to protect something or just for power or greed's sake. So the fact that this one hadn't wanted power was sort of a surprise. He had only known one other case like this one, but the other had wanted companions that wouldn't die when around them. This one, this hollow wanted something that according to itself could not be given back once taken. It could mean various things, including and most prominently, life. Once your life as a living person ended, that was it, you were forced to leave everything behind, no second chances. But that probably wasn't the case with this one, though there was always the possibility it was tied in in some way, it didn't really matter much to him at the moment. As long as it wanted something, then there was the chance that he could convince her to join him. After all in the end, everything always came back down to power. Even if it wasn't what was wanted, if one gave them an alternative that sounded just as good if not better, one could still wind up winning in the end.

"I may not be able to give you whatever it is that you apparently lost, but I can give you power so that you don't have to worry about losing something ever again." As the hollow finally turned over, though slowly, he knew he had won yet again. His grin though a pleasant smile on the surface, was border lining predatory underneath.

"Now why don't you come this way?"

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A/N. So what did you guys think? In case you guys were wondering and before you ask. What Ichigo wanted was her mom back. I noticed that in the anime there was a slight dependence of that fact with canon!Ichigo back when the woman was still alive. This Ichigo shares the same dependency that canon!Ichigo showed, the main difference being that while the Ichigo in the manga and anime both lived to grow up and at least somewhat get past it, this Ichigo died around the same time, and what she does remember is painful for her. Mentally speaking, and with the way I reasoned it out, this Ichigo should still be mentally stuck somewhere in her childhood, hence why in this, though I haven't mentioned it yet, she looks like a child no older than 12 or 13. She may seem mature but all she really wants is her mother back, or at least the feeling of safety she got when she was still alive and around her.

Anyways, you'll see as the story progresses and everything begins falling into place. I hope you all enjoyed the story and thanks for reading. Please remember to review and tell me what you think! See ya!


	4. EP 3 The New Fracción

A/N. Hey guys. Here's episode 3. Hope you all enjoy it! And thanks for the reviews everybody! Oh, and a personal thanks to xChaos Reborn-incognitox for offering to help if I encounter a problem anywhere!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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**Episode 3: The New Fracción**

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"Starrk." The primera espada looked up at his name being called, for once awake instead of sleeping in his room like he normally would, though he was still lazing about all the same. Before him stood the lord of Hueco Mundo, looking ever as impressive as ever with a surprisingly pleased expression. The man was oozing an aura of victory, however small it might have been; something good must have happened within the last day or so.

"Lord Aizen." He greeted lazily, though still with a tone of respect in his voice. The Arrancar attempted to sit up at least somewhat straight as he fully turned to face the man. "To what do I owe this meeting?" he asked, looking at the man curiously. Aizen merely chuckled slightly as he nodded his head in return,

"I have a small favor of sorts to ask of you." The man explained simply, eying the other to see how he would react. As usual, there was no real emotion to be detected from the man. If he was surprised at all by what he had said, he wasn't showing it.

"It's about that Hollow you sent the others and I to find, isn't it?" the man asked, looking at the man with same bored expression on his face, though the tone of his voice belied his curiosity.

"Yes. I would like you to take her under your wing. As one of your fracción if you don't mind. I understand that you only have one, but still." The man said, though despite how the man worded it. Starrk had a feeling that he really didn't have too much of an option in this.

"Can I at least ask why?"

"Let's just say she's a bit different from the other Arrancar that I've created so far." Aizen chuckled slightly again when he noticed Starrk raise an eyebrow inquisitively, his expression for once at least giving away some small fraction of the amount of confusion the man truly felt. "You'll see when she arrives." As if by magic, they both heard a knock on the door; light and slightly softer than what was normally expected from most of those that dwelled within the walls of Las Noches. Releasing a pleased smile, Aizen called out for their guest to enter, the door opening in response to reveal something that almost had Starrk choking on his own spit if he had been any other man. A small child, no older than 12 at most if he were to guess based on her physical body and appearance; she was thin and would only come up to about his thigh if he were to stand up right this very instant, walked in, skin so white she made the cuatro espada look tan by comparison. Her hair was longer than what might be deemed safe in battle, falling down to the heels of her bare feet and as white as her skin if not even more so. Her eyes were a pale blue, though he had a feeling that that had not been the original color when she was alive, and she stared at him with the eyes of an innocent who had yet to experience true battle. Even with her eyes and appearance however, he could still feel the large droves of reiatsu that poured uncontrolled and unhindered from that small body.

"Starrk, this is your new fracción, Ichi. I expect you to teach her everything she needs to know for the upcoming war." Aizen introduced suddenly, pushing the little girl, Ichi apparently, towards the lazing man with a gentle hand. "Ichi, this is Starrk, he is the primera espada and your new boss. You will do everything he says, do you understand?" the man asked, bending down to the girl's eye level. Ichi simply nodded her head remaining quiet, though she seemed to have a slight frown on her face as she eyed the other warily. "Good. He has another fracción besides you, so make sure to get along with her as well. I must be going now, have a pleasant day." Aizen replied finally, before standing up and leaving. Just as the man reached the door, Starrk called out for him to wait, grunting as he stood up and walked over to the man.

"Lord Aizen, pardon me if this seems a little defiant on my part. But that girl is nothing but a child. You actually expect me to train her for war?" at the question, Aizen merely chuckled yet again. He wouldn't admit it openly, but Starrk was starting to find that a little annoying.

"Her being a child is exactly why I'm placing her under your authority. It's a better idea than some of the others I could've stuck her with. Besides, I highly doubt you missed the amount of reiatsu leaking off of her. She's got no control over it after all. The others wouldn't be able to handle it or her." The man simply explained motioning to the little girl who had decided to plop herself down on Starrk's vacated seat. "Well now, if that is all. Again, I shall be going now." and with that final farewell, Aizen left the room disappearing down the hall and leaving Starrk to tend to the twelve year old child now in his room.

With a seemingly anguished sigh, Starrk turned to face his new fracción, eying the girl with a measuring gaze as he slowly allowed himself to take in the fact he was now responsible for her. In the back of his mind somewhere, he couldn't help but laugh at how well Lilynette was going to take this new addition, which wasn't very. She'd probably throw a fit at first, but Starrk didn't feel like dealing with that at the moment. Luckily she was out doing Aizen knew what at the moment and probably wouldn't be back for some time.

"I don't like him." Starrk looked towards Ichi, who was still sitting on his bed, though it was more of a giant, very comfortable cushion really. She was looking at him almost expectantly. _'She's waiting for a reaction.'_

"What?"

"I said I don't like him." She repeated, looking completely unbothered, though her eyes told him that she was expecting to be punished for her words. With a shrug, Starrk joined her on his bed, making her bounce slightly as his added weight almost threw her off.

"And can I ask why?"

"You already did."

"Well yes I suppose so." Starrk almost laughed, she was witty and quick, he'd give her that. And she definitely wasn't shy about stating her own opinion about things.

"He's fake." Starrk quirked an eye at the explanation. As if he had urged her to go on without her having looked at him, she continued, "His smiles, his expressions, his whole demeanor. They're all fake, so he is fake." Finally she turned to him, "I don't like fake things." At that, she finally laid back, immediately going to sleep, obviously tired from the day. Starrk, instead of doing the same, carefully got up from his bed, looking down at the admittedly strange child. He sighed as he spoke to himself aloud,

"I need to find another bed for her; this is going to be a drag." His words however, belied what he was really thinking about. Ichi, his new fracción, has said that Lord Aizen, their leader, was fake. It couldn't help but make him think, was it true what she said, but even if so, did it even really matter?

* * *

Aizen walked in to find Gin already standing there and waiting for him, sitting at the foot of his throne with an expectant grin on his face.

"You knew didn't you, that she was a bit different from the others." Aizen questioned, though it was more like a statement. Gin's smile grew even wider as he answered the man,

"I figured something was off when I threw her back 'n the room. She was far too small beneath that tattered cloak. My hand from the tip of my middle finger to the base of my palm was bigger than her stomach was wide." Gin seemed to gloat, though there was something Aizen couldn't quite identify underneath his tone. The man snorted under his breath as he went to sit on his throne, propping his head up in the palm of his hand.

"Well whatever, she more than makes up for size with her level of power." Gin said nothing to the statement, instead choosing to just grin knowingly. Aizen couldn't help but think, the white haired man was really like a snake.

* * *

A/N. Ok so what do you guys think? Please leave a review and again thanks for reading guys! Also, if you're all wondering about Ichigo's slight name change and change in appearance, there is a reason behind it. I took a day to think about how Ichigo would look as an Arrancar and I figured it'd be like her inner hollow. I gave her blue eyes instead of brown because that's Tensa Zangetsu's eye color apparently. As for the slight name change, which is really just dropping the -go from her actual one, I took into account the fact that Ichigo's memories were very scattered and faded, and also the fact that she had never given her name to anybody prior to this chapter. Since Ichigo's memories were so shattered, I figured that from what she could remember if her name had been stated, it was probably cut off, and so gave her the name Ichi. Anyways, see ya!


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